I don't see the problem.
Sell drugs, go to jail.
Get caught twice, go to jail for a very long time.
Third time and you're out... out of society for good.

I'd rather pay my tax money to keep them in prison... rather then have them out on the streets.

It costs about 30K/yr to incarcerate. For geriatric prisoners it's like 90K PLUS. Some of these folk are in nonviolent and minor drug offenses. Many states are closing their supermax prisons because they CAN'T AFFORD THEM.

It costs about 30K/yr to incarcerate. For geriatric prisoners it's like 90K PLUS. Some of these folk are in nonviolent and minor drug offenses. Many states are closing their supermax prisons because they CAN'T AFFORD THEM.

Perhaps Freddy doesn't know the history behind marijuana being illegal. I've mentioned this before, but just for him, here goes:

MJ was not illegal before WWI. During that war, there was a severe labor shortage in the Southwest due to the draft, and Mexican laborers were hired to replace the soldiers in the (farm) field.

The war ended, and those veterans wanted their jobs back. The Mexicans did not particularly want to leave. They REALLY liked their MJ, so making it illegal made it easier to deport them after busting them.

The fact that this po'd jazz musicians and intellectuals was probably considered a bonus by the type of people who indulge in that sort of thinking.

So the cotton, oil, and alcohol industries VS hemp werent involved? Even though hemp threatened all of them?
Do you not see the power involved that opposed mj?

Which seems more likely, they made it illegal for racist reason, or because big business wanted it illegal?

At the time, the scale of cotton production far outstripped the production of hemp. Something like 10-1. So I don't think that was a major factor in it's prohibition. The most vocal public opponent of hemp was W.R. Hurst. Some believed he thought that hemp production would harm his timber business. But again, that is pure speculation. The production of hemp had declined through market pressures up until it was finally taxed in 1937, which was a euphamism for prohibition since the government was loathe to issue tax stamps for it's production.

Quote:

From 1804 through 1929, the average price paid for hemp fiber was close to or below the farmer's break-even point.

So the cotton, oil, and alcohol industries VS hemp werent involved? Even though hemp threatened all of them?
Do you not see the power involved that opposed mj?

Which seems more likely, they made it illegal for racist reason, or because big business wanted it illegal?

There was just WAY to much money at stake, look at how much money has been diverted to those industries now, present day. The oil industry alone.

Hemp grows like a weed, has several harvests a very, will grow in terrible dirt, and is a renewable energy source. Our gov knew exactly what they did, and continues the tradition today. The fleecing continues...

This is/was not an either-or situation! The industries you mention are among those involved in keeping it illegal, but the original motivation was anti-minorityism (if there indeed be such a word!).

Clever propaganda used at the right time can move mountains.
Recall all the hub bub about how it was the health insurance industry fought the healthcare law? Ever ask yourself why would they really fight something they are going to gain from? Our gov is a master of propaganda, its used all the time, keeps us fighting with each other. Which just enables the gov more.

Quote:

However, until hemp can once again operate in the free market it will not even be given the chance to succeed.

Clever propaganda used at the right time can move mountains.
Recall all the hub bub about how it was the health insurance industry fought the healthcare law? Ever ask yourself why would they really fight something they are going to gain from?

Last line.

There are new uses of hemp hurds which might make the hemp industry profitable. But it's best use, that of rope, is nearly nonexistant now, because there are much better alternatives, even if they are more expensive. Even if hemp were completely legal to grow, it likely wouldn't be cultivated in any great quantities. Just look where cotton is grown now in order for it to be profitable. The labor is young, cheap, and disposable. In the US, it's production is heavily subsidized.

Hemp oil has been around a long, long time. Yet I must have missed it in your link.
Opinion was manipulated, same then as now. For many previous century's hemp was a tool of survival. Then its banished by the gov in any form. Why? Racism!

Choosing to focus on one use for a hemp product is disingenuous, it has many.